Dan Neville
Question:728 Deputy Dan Neville asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if Newcastlewest, County Limerick will be included in the current compensation scheme for flooding victims. [48336/09]
View answerTuesday, 19 January 2010
Questions (664)
Written answers
In recognition of the devastation suffered by people in many areas of the country as a result of the flooding from November 2009 onwards, the Government set up a Humanitarian Assistance Scheme to provide income tested financial support to people who have suffered damages to their homes not covered by insurance. An initial sum of €10million has been set aside by the Government for this purpose.
The scheme provides hardship alleviation as opposed to full compensation. As on previous occasions, commercial or business losses are not covered by the scheme nor are losses which are covered by household insurance. Neither does it cover damage to private rented accommodation or local authority accommodation, though humanitarian assistance may be considered in the case of a tenant's personal belongings. Applications under the scheme are income tested to ensure that available assistance will be prioritised for those who are most vulnerable.
The humanitarian assistance scheme offers emergency payments for clothing, food, bedding, heating, hire of dehumidifiers and emergency accommodation needs, replacement of essential household items such as carpets, flooring, furniture and white goods and assistance for structural repairs to homes.
The objective is to address the hardship currently being experienced in the areas affected. It was not the Governments intention to re-open earlier cases of flooding and I do not consider that it would be appropriate to do so.